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Whole-Mount Staining, Visualization, and Analysis of Fungiform, Circumvallate, and Palate Taste Buds
Published on: February 11, 2021
Sublingual Caruncle Taste Buds Drive Taste Perception and Salivary Reflexes
1State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases & National Center for Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & Department of Cariology and Endodontics, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Journal of Dental Research
|July 17, 2026
Summary
Researchers identified taste buds in the mouse sublingual caruncle, revealing their role in taste perception and salivary reflexes. This discovery expands our understanding of the gustatory system and its connection to salivary function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gustatory System Research
- Salivary Gland Physiology
Background:
- Taste perception relies on taste buds (TBs) distributed throughout the oral cavity.
- The precise distribution and functional organization of all TBs remain incompletely understood.
- The mandibular sublingual caruncle in mice is an undercharacterized anatomical site with potential gustatory relevance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the morphology, cellular composition, and molecular profile of taste buds in the mouse sublingual caruncle.
- To investigate the innervation and central connectivity of these taste buds.
- To determine the functional role of sublingual caruncle taste buds in taste perception and salivary secretion.
Main Methods:
- Utilized transgenic reporter lines and immunofluorescence staining to identify taste bud cell types (Type I, II, III).
- Performed molecular analysis to detect taste transduction components and bitter taste receptors.
- Employed retrograde neuronal tracing (Dil/DiO) and c-Fos activation to map neural pathways and central responses.
- Assessed taste-evoked saliva secretion using various tastants and genetically modified mouse models.
Main Results:
- Sublingual caruncle taste buds possess canonical morphology and cellular composition, expressing key taste transduction molecules.
- These taste buds are innervated by sensory nerve fibers projecting to the geniculate ganglion, part of the facial gustatory pathway.
- Stimulation of the sublingual caruncle elicited central neural activation and taste-specific saliva secretion, reduced in impaired gustatory models.
Conclusions:
- The mandibular sublingual caruncle serves as a functional gustatory site in mice.
- These taste buds contribute to taste-evoked salivary reflexes, integrating taste perception with salivary function.
- This study expands the known map of the gustatory system and its coordination with oral physiological responses.
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